"Happiness is both a state and a trait. The state of happiness is a mood that comes and goes. The trait of happiness is a predisposition to a feeling of well-being....If you have developed a happiness trait, you will be happy most of the time in spite of unpleasant circumstances in your life."
~Lucile Johnson
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
~Melody Beattie
Choosing Joy
Joy is what makes life worth living, but for many joy seems hard to find. They complain that their lives are sorrowful and depressing. What then brings the joy we so much desire? Are some people just lucky, while others have run out of luck? Strange as it may sound, we can choose joy. Two people can be part of the same event, but one may choose to live it quite differently than the other. One may choose to trust that what happened, painful as it may be, holds a promise. The other may choose despair and be destroyed by it.
What makes us human is precisely this freedom of choice.
Henri Nouwen
The protection of praise
by John Fischer
“If you search for good, you will find favor; but if you search for evil, it will find you!” (Proverbs 11:27 NLT) Praise is a valuable weapon against the enemy. War cries, frontal assaults, or special words of exorcism can’t drive back the forces of evil. Neither can the brandishing of the sword or the charge of the brigade. What keeps the powers of darkness at bay is the simple and true praise of the Savior from a heart set free. Christians are engaged in a battle, but going on the warpath won’t win this fight. It can even make matters worse. Christians can easily get caught up searching for evil in the world and trying to root it out, but by focusing on evil so much we bring the evil right to us. The best way to go after the enemy is with Christ on our minds and praise for him in our hearts. We do this unconsciously all the time. We sing a little song of praise as we go about our tasks, and unseen demons rush for cover. There are some things we are better off not knowing about. Like the complicated etchings of the classical German painter Albrecht Durer that depict hosts of angelic beings and demons warring high in the sky over peaceful, tranquil landscapes, we have little knowledge of what is really going on at any given time in the heavenly realms around us. But we need not be conscious of this. We do not require sentries on the watch every hour, fearing attack. We do not have to check behind every door. It's better if we don’t. (“If you search for evil, it will find you!”) We need only be in the presence and the praise of Jesus. The enemy flees at the mere sound of his name. Jesus is our constant protection. He is our most valuable possession. The best protection against evil is a heart bent toward the good – seeking God in all things. Light does not fight with darkness. There is no wrestling match necessary. Light banishes darkness. They cannot occupy the same place at the same time.
Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotional
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